document.write( "Question 117767: How many two-letter permutations can be made from the letters L,M,N,O, and P? \r
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Algebra.Com's Answer #85743 by jim_thompson5910(35256)\"\" \"About 
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
I'll do the first one to show you 2 ways you can tackle these types of problems\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Method #1:\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Since 2 only places to put them, you can visualize of the problem as a series of slots like this:\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Now since you have 5 distinct letters, you have 5 choices for the first slot. Once you take away one letter, you are left with 4 letters. So you'll have 4 choices for the 2nd slot. Now simply multiply these two numbers to get\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "5*4=20\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "So you'll have 20 unique combinations\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Method #2:\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Since we're talking about permutations, we can use the permutations formula:\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"n%21%2F%28n-r%29%21\" Start with the given formula\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"5%21%2F%285-2%29%21\" Plug in \"n=5\" (this is the total number of letters that you have) and \"r=2\" (this is the number of letters that you can use at one time) note: the value of n is greater than r. In other words n>r.\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"5%21%2F3%21\" Subtract \"5-2\" to get 3\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Expand 5!
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Expand 3!
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"%285%2A4%2Across%283%2A2%2A1%29%29%2F%28cross%283%2A2%2A1%29%29\" Cancel\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"5%2A4\" Simplify\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"20\" Now multiply 5*4 to get 20\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "So 5 choose 2 (where order does matter) yields 20 unique combinations\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "So no matter what method you choose, you'll get the same answer.
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